Valiant for Truth - Worship

One of the biggest problems in Reformed churches, I believe, is that people come to church to critique the sermon rather than listen to it. How so? In Reformed churches there are always a number of theological commandos, people who love to study the Bible, read serious theological works, and encourage and spur others on to improve their own knowledge.

During the sixteenth-century Reformation one of the standard practices for pastors was to preach lectio continua, chapter-by-chapter, verse-by-verse, through books of the Bible. At Geneva, for example, John Calvin preached from the New Testament in the morning and the Old Testament in the evening.

One of the most challenging things in a pastor’s ministry is shepherding friends and family. I’m not talking about pastoring people in the congregation who become your friends, though that certainly has its challenges.

The Reformed understanding of the Lord’s Supper is grounded in an important distinction between the sign and seal (bread and wine), the thing signified (forgiveness through his blood, the “blood of the covenant”), and a sacramental union between the two (our Lord’s words “this is my body”).

As a pastor of a local church, I often walk alone through the empty auditorium of our building during the week. In the stillness, I look at the empty pews and think of the people who will fill them on Sunday during the ‘dinner rush.’